gilroy LIVING
WITH SAM BOZZO
Meet Gena & Fortune Gonzales
Forty
Something
In Gilroy
Sam Bozzo has lived in Gilroy
since 1976. He has served as
President of the Gilroy Garlic
Festival Association and has
been a demonstration chef at
the event for many years. He is
co-writer with Gene Sakahara
of the local best seller, So You
Think You Can Cook cook-
book and has been part of
the SakaBozzo comedy duo
for many years. He lives in
Gilroy with his wife, Judy. They
have two sons who, with their
families, also call Gilroy their
home.
104
I
have known Gena Gonzales for
many years. When we had our
Fourth of July block parties on 5th
Street, we would recruit her for the kids’
games. She is a natural born leader.
Gena was born in Carmel at Community
Hospital of Monterey Peninsula. Her
family moved to Gilroy when she was
nine months old. Her dad Gene took
a job with the Gilroy Unified School
District at San Ysidro School out on
Highway 152. Gena began her early
school years Las Animas Elementary
School when it was located on Wren
Ave. From there she went to South Valley
Middle School and then to Gilroy High.
Following in her father’s footsteps, she
graduated from Chico State. During her
college years, her grandparents lived
close to campus in the Chico suburb
of Durham.
I came to meet Fortune some years
later, just in time to attend his bachelor
party. We started with a tail gate at the
Oakland A’s stadium. Still tailgating by
the third inning, I asked if we were
going into the game. Afterward, we
headed across the San Mateo Bridge to
Redwood City where we raced miniature
cars and then took the Dumbarton
Bridge to Milpitas to enjoy the food and
fun at Dave and Busters Restaurant.
What a great night.
Fortune was born in San Jose, He
grew up in his family’s home on New
Avenue in Gilroy. They had horses on
the property, so as a young boy, part of
Fortune’s daily routine was tending to
and riding the horses.
Fortune and Gena attended Gilroy
High School at the same time. They met
while taking a ceramics class together.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
Little did they know then that Gilroy High
would become a focal point in the story of
their lives together.
Fortune went on to San José State
where he got his teaching credential and
later a Masters Degree in Educational
Administration. After college, they both
landed jobs at Gilroy High. Fortune
taught U.S. History, Government and
Economics. Gena worked as the school’s
athletic director while studying for
her Master’s Degree. She coached the
Gilroy High women’s softball team to a
league championship! They started having
lunch together, but not romantic lunches
– typically they ate in the classroom sur-
rounded by students.
“We don’t have crime like
other cities and while some
people think there’s more
traffic, we have the ability
to move across town in a
short time.”
They dated for a while, and got married
during Garlic Festival weekend in 2004.
They made their wedding vows at Gilroy
Presbyterian Church where I had the
privilege of being a part of the wedding
ceremony. The reception followed in
Monterey.
The time came to start a family. Bode
was their firstborn son, followed by
Kaiden. This fall, Bode (11) is a student at
Solorsano Middle School, while Kaiden (9)
continues at Glen View Elementary. In their
infancy the boys were well cared for by
grandma and grandpa Sakahara. Grandpa
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